India, May 8 -- LUCKNOW Composite liquor shops, authorised to sell only sealed bottles and cans, are providing bar-like facilities by serving alcohol and food to customers in the state capital besides running kitchens without food licence, which is in violation of Uttar Pradesh Excise rules.

Enforcement officials remain silent despite violations within a few hundred metres of police stations and excise offices.

The city has around 400 composite shops. Many of these, which operate as takeaway shops, have turned into illegal consumption hubs. Areas like Shahnajaf Road, Indira Nagar, Kapoorthala, Hazratganj, Gomti Nagar and others are emerging as hot spots where alcohol is served on the premises in violation of norms.

During a ground inve...